Clyburn: respecting differences can lead to successful communities.

"For you to be effective with your abilities, it is important to pay attention to the way you see the world because it may be a little bit different from the way the person seated in front of you sees the world," stated House Majority Whip James Clyburn, as he began his remarks as this year's Congressional City Conference Celebrate Diversity Breakfast keynote speaker. "Think about it. Our experiences are often dictated by our gender or our skin color. These things will cause you to be treated a certain way. I believe it is important to respect and reconcile our differences."

Clyburn has represented the Sixth Congressional District of South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1993.

Founded and sponsored by the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (NBC-LEO), this year's breakfast event was jointly sponsored by all of NLC's constituency grips including Women in Municipal Government, the Hispanic Elected Local Officials, the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Local Officials and the Asian Pacific American Municipal Officials.

NLC President Cynthia McCollum, council member, Madison, Ala., presided at the breakfast and, in introducing House Majority Whip Clyburn, remarked, "He is an energetic and outstanding member of Congress who has welcomed many of us to his office in the U.S. Capitol several times to engage in productive discussions about Congressional outreach to our cities and towns, and we are proud to have him join us today."

Clyburn recounted some of the days of his youth as well as his experiences in the civil rights movement. "Oftentimes, people will come to you with a point of reference that you are not familiar with," he said. "When I am looking at votes in Congress, I start looking at the experiences of my colleagues, and we have to work at reconciling differences and respecting one another so that we can achieve a common goal."

In reference to working with diverse opinions and backgrounds, he said, "We need to respect, celebrate and reconcile our differences, so that we will have successful communities, successful cities and a successful nation. We all need each other. We all have differences. Doctors need lawyers, lawyers need plumbers, plumbers need auto mechanics, and so on."

During his childhood in Sumter, S.C., the Congressman was rebuked by his mother's friend for expressing his dreams of wanting to be in politics and government. This was only because she felt his aspirations might bring danger to him and his family in the segregated South. However, his mother encouraged him to hold on to his dreams.

In terms of working with local elected officials, he said, "We here in Washington cannot do our jobs successfully unless you do yours, and you officials in the cities and towns cannot do your jobs successfully unless we do ours."

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Details: For more information and membership opportunities with NLC's constituency groups, visit Inside NLC at www.nlc.org.